Hey, guys, Adam here with americantrucks.com, today we're taking a closer look at and installing
the MSD Coil Packs in Red available for the 2011 and 2014 3.5 liter EcoBoost F-150.
You should be checking out this six-pack if you're in need of a new set of coil on plugs.
Now, these are gonna be a direct fit replacement for your 3.5 EcoBoost but they are gonna be
a pretty good upgrade over the factory coils.
Now, if your EcoBoost is suffering from a misfire, chances are it maybe a coil on plug
that's gone bad or a spark plug.
Either way, it's a good idea to pick up an entirely new set of coil on plugs but at the
same time, you might as well upgrade right?
This particular set from MSD not only looks pretty good under the hood in the red finish,
but they're also gonna boost voltage output and improve spark energy on your EcoBoost
which will actually translate into a small increase in mid-range power on the RPM band.
These are gonna be a much more efficient coil on plug compared to your factory coils thanks
to MSD's new technology and their patent technology on their primary and secondary windings.
Now, visually, these aren't a ton different than your factory coils aside from the red
finish and the MSD name right on top there, but it's inside that makes all the difference.
And like I said, you can even expect a small bump in power at the mid-range.
Whenever you're doing spark plugs on your EcoBoost when it comes time for routine maintenance
it's not a bad idea to pick these guys up too and vice versa.
If you're swapping out the coils, it's a good time to just swap the plugs out too since
you're already there, you might as well get the 100% of the job done.
This coil pack from MSD does come as a complete kit, you'll get all six for your EcoBoost,
it comes in right around the $250 mark.
The install, of course, gets one out of three wrenches on our difficulty meter, they're
built to like I said be a direct bolt-on replacement.
So, all you have to worry about is the one 8-millimeter bolt holding it on pinching out
that connector, pulling them straight back, and it's as easy as swapping them out.
The rest of the coil unplug kit when you do install, it does come with that weatherstrip
sealant to make sure no moisture is getting in.
This is a really high quality pack.
It's pretty much the exact same quality material and fitment and your factory coils, so you
don't have to worry about anything there.
Now, as far as getting those installed, it will take you about an hour from start to
finish, maybe not even that because it is so darn simple.
I'm gonna take you through every step of the process from start to finish, let's get to
it.
Tools used in this install include a quarter-inch ratchet, small extension, 8-millimeter socket
and a flathead screwdriver.
Now, before you jump into doing your coils, guys grab an 8-millimeter socket, remove the
negative cable from the terminal on your battery, wanna be safe.
Of course this is step number one.
So, we've got our socket here, just gonna loosen this guy up, pop it off.
All right.
Just wanna bend that out of the way, you wanna make sure this is not going to touch anything
metal, can tuck it right behind that wire there and it's safe.
Once that terminal's disconnected guys, you're gonna disconnect the harness connecting to
your factory coils, we're gonna start on your passenger side, disconnect all three, then
use that same 8-millimeter socket to remove the one bolt holding on each pack, pop them
out, replace our new ones, put those in there, reconnect and then repeat.
So, let's do that now.
We're gonna disconnect the three harnesses and then we'll move forward.
All right.
So, with these harnesses, there's one, two and three back there, you're gonna lift up
on the red locking tab, basically you're gonna push up on the red locking tab and you may
wanna use a flathead screwdriver for this just like that.
From there, you can pinch and disconnect.
You're just gonna push down right there, pull up and disconnect.
Perfect.
Do the same thing for the other two on this side.
All right.
Grab your 8 socket, I'm gonna use a small extension here too to make life a little easier.
We're just gonna pop off this little bolt here.
Once you get it loosened up you can usually just get it out by hand.
All right.
Once that's out of the way, grab that coil, pull straight back.
All right.
Do the same thing for the other two here.
All right.
Now before we move forward, guys, two things.
One, it's always a good idea to replace your plugs.
Anytime you're doing these coil on plugs, your spark plugs are right underneath.
So, at this point, if you are replacing your spark plugs, that's gonna come next of course.
We're not since we're just focusing on the coil on plugs for this video.
And second thing, you can repeat for the other side at this point or you can wait till one
side is completely finished before you repeat, that's obviously personal preference.
I'm gonna show you guys this passenger side and then, of course, you can just repeat that
for the other one.
So, now that we have these three coils out, let's go on the table and compare these three
to some of our MSG coil on plugs, take a look at the comparison.
All right, guys, we got three of our six factory coils off of our 2011 behind me, it's on the
table next door MSD, six of them.
So, just obviously a quick disclaimer guys, obviously six of them are included in the
kit, we only did take out three of them so far.
So, that's why we have three on the table and six to my left.
Taking a look at the comparison between these two, guys, there's not a whole lot to talk
about as far as visual differences besides the color and the logo display at the top
here.
Obviously, the factory coils are black, no real name or engravings on the top here, right,
basic factory Ford coils, Ford Motor craft coils.
Looking at the MSD they are finished in red, they have the black weatherstripping, of course,
the same styling, shape and appearance as the factory one.
They just have that red finish, which does, of course, look good under the hood.
And then finally it has the MSD name and part number right on the top there.
Part number makes it easy to search up whenever routine maintenance comes around.
If you're replacing these, you already know what to look for and MSD just lets you rep
some of that brand name knowledge.
Now, the coil itself on the inside is what makes the difference, this boosts voltage
output when compared to the factory one, it features the patented MSD signature primary
and secondary enhance windings.
That's what's gonna give you a little bit better of a spark and of course increase some
of that mid-range power we talked about earlier.
Now, that's really the comparison there.
This one's got a little bit of an enhanced internal with those windings, it's also gonna
just help you overall keeping up with maintenance.
The factory ones we, of course, know when it comes time for routine maintenance, changing
your plugs and coil ons are always a good idea.
But why not go for the upgrade, right?
So, this is a good way to go with the MSD and they're affordable with that which we
talked about earlier.
The fitment is all gonna be the same, weatherstripping gives you that good seal sun and moisture
makes its way in.
It's going to bolt down using the same factory location, the same factory 8-millimeter bolts
that we just took off, they'll pop right in and the factory connector pops right on, no
need for modification or anything like that.
What we're gonna do now is install three of these to replace three we took out and then,
of course, you guys can just repeat that for the other side.
What do you say we toss this table out of the way and get started?
All right, so now what we can do is take one of our coils, we're gonna slide that into
position, making sure the harness is out of the way, really just gonna seat it all the
way in.
And what I'm gonna do is actually put all three of them in and then we'll worry about
the bolts in a second.
Just lift up on those lines being careful right there, make sure the harness is out
of the way, push down and they snap right in position.
Finally, the one in the back.
Just wanna make sure that connector's facing up, grab the bolts and we'll set them in place.
All right.
So, I'm gonna grab this 8-millimeter bolt, I'm gonna set it in there, can use the extension
and the socket just to get it going a couple of threads before we grab our ratchet and
do that for all three.
I just find doing everything in threes makes life a little easier, just kind of get everything
started a little bit and you can really come back and get it going a little faster.
So, with all three of those in, just gonna tighten them all down by hand.
Again, just making life a little easier.
Grab your ratchet and finish off the job there.
All right.
Once you have all those tightened down, it's really just as simple as going back, plug
in your connector and pushing down the locking tab.
Finally, repeat for the other side.
Well, guys, that's gonna wrap up my review and install for the MSD Coil Packs in Red
available for the '11 to '14 3.5 EcoBoost F-150.
This is about 250 bucks for the pack of six and you can get yours right here at americantrucks.com.